Wrapping machines



y 23, 1968 A. SCHMERMUND 3,385,026-

WRAPPING MACHINES Filed May 25, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 JA/VEN TO? Amer 5CHMEFHUND A. SCHMERMUND WRAPPING MACHINES.

May 28, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 25, 1965 INVENTOP. ALFRED SC/{MERMMMP By: ma 8( mm hmweys y 1958 A. SCHMERMUND WRAPPING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 25, 1965 .ooooooo o o 0 o 0 o 0 INVENTOP AL R D mezhuxm By. M m A TTOENE ys United States Patent 3,385,026 WRAPPING MACHINES Alfred Schmermund, 62 Kornerstrasse, Gevelsberg, Westphalia, Germany Filed May 25, 1965, Ser. No. 458,547 Claims priority, application Great Britain, June 4, 1964, 23,095/64 Claims. (Cl. 53-228) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A wrapping machine is described by means of which wrapping material is wrapped around an article, the machine comprising a conveyor, which may be in the form ofa twin-conveyor belt or a twin-conveyor drum which holds the wrapping material by suction while the wrapping material is being fed transversely across a path for articles to be wrapped. Opposite the conveyor and at each side of said path, a stationary suction block is provided for removing the wrapping material by suction from the conveyor when the suction exerted by the conveyor ceases or is reduced. The suction blocks hold the wrapping material stationarily until an article to be wrapped is pushed against the wrapping material causing the same to slide along the suction blocks and to be folded around the leading end of the article, the wrapping being subsequently completed in any convenient and known manner.

The invention relates to wrapping machines, and more specifically to a machine by means of which wrapping material is wrapped around an article.

It is an object of the invention to provide a wrapping machine comprising a simple and improved arrangement for feeding wrapping material to an article to be wrapped.

It is another object of the invention to provide such a machine in which the wrapping material is under a uniform tension while being Wrapped around an article.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a machine which is simple and yet reliable in use.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide such a machine in which the Wrapping material is removed from a conveyor therefor and is held stationary while being wrapped around an article so that the wrapping process is independent of the movement of said conveyor.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the accompanying drawings which are given by way of example and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view, partly in section and partly diagrammatical, of a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a part of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view, partly in section and partly diagrammatical, of a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a part of the embodiment of FIG. 3.

The embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises co-operating feed rollers 1 and 2 for drawing a web 3 of wrapping material from a storage roller or the like (not shown). A rotatable cutter 4 is provided at one side of the web 3 and a counter-cutter 5 which preferably is stationary is provided at the other side of the web 3, the speed of rotation of the rotatable cutter 4 being such that suitable lengths of wrapping material are cut from the web 3. The cut lengths 6 of the wrapping material are fed under gravity to a conveyor generally indicated by reference numeral 7, the conveyor 7 having two parallel elongated conveyor belts 8 passing around and driven by rollers 9. The conveyor belts 8, thus, move in an endless elongated path. The belts 8 travel around stationary "ice suction means 11 communicating with the outside through perforations 12 for holding the lengths 6 of wrapping material while fed beyond a path 13 for articles to be Wrapped. The path 13 is formed by plates 14 and 15.

Adjacent the conveyor belts 8 and at both sides of the path 13 suction devices in the shape of suction blocks 16 are provided.

Control means 17, which are illustrated only diagrammatically, and are of any suitable construction known per se, are provided for controlling the suction effects exerted by the suction means 11 of the conveyor belts 8 and of the suction blocks 16. Means 18 are provided for pushing articles 21 to be wrapped along the path 13.

The embodiment described operates as follows:

A web 3 of wrapping material is drawn from the storage roller or the like by the two feed rollers 1, 2 and is cut into suitable lenghts by the rotatable cutter 4 and the counter-cutter 5. Each length 6 of wrapping material is held by suction to both conveyor belts 8 and is moved until the length 6 of wrapping material lies substantially symmetrical with regard to the feed path 13 for the articles 21. When this position has been reached the suction effect exerted by the suction means 11 of the conveyor belts 8 ceases, and the suction effect exerted by the suction blocks 16 starts so that the length 6 of wrapping material is removed from the conveyor belts 8, the belts S continuing to move. The suction effects are controlled by the control means 17 in timed relationship. The length 6 of wrapping material is held stationary by the suction blocks 16 independently of the conveyor belts 8. An article 21 to be wrapped is now pushed by the pushing means 18 against the length 6 of the wrapping material which under the pressure exerted by the article 21 slides along the suction blocks 16. Thereby the length 6 of wrapping material is folded around the article 21, the wrapping being subsequently completed in any convenient and known manner.

It will be observed that during folding the length 6 of wrapping material is removed from the conveyor belts 8 and is held slidably by the suction blocks 16. Therefore, the wrapping process is independent of the movement of the conveyor belts 8.

Many modifications of the embodiment described are possible. For example, in the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the elongated conveyor belts 8 are replaced by two coaxial wheels in the form of coaxial drums 108 provided with suction means 111 for feeding lengths 106 of wrapping material 103 in an arcuate path. The suction blocks 116 have concave surfaces 122 facing the convex surfaces of the drums 108 and being con-centric thereto.

I claim:

1. In a machine for wrapping articles, a conveyor comprising a pair of spaced belts for feeding a web of wrapping material across a path for an article to be wrapped, means for moving said article in said path against said web of wrapping material to wrap the same around said article between said belts, a first stationary suction device facing said conveyor and being located at one side of said path, and a second stationary suction device facing said conveyor and being located at the opposite side of said path when viewed in the direction of movement of said conveyor, said first and second suction devices being adapted to remove said web of wrapping material by suction from said conveyor belts and to slidably hold said web of wrapping material across said path of said moving article.

2. A machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said conveyor also comprises suction means for holding said web of wrapping material on said conveyor belts while said web of wrapping material is being fed by said conveyor.

3. A machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said conveyor belts are endless and movable over spaced pulleys to provide a straight run extending at both sides of said article path adjacent said first and second suction devices.

4. A machine as defined in claim 1, and further comprising a pair of rollers arranged and adapted to feed a continuous web of wrapping material to said conveyor, and a cutting device arranged between said pair of rollers and said conveyor, said cutting device being adapted to successively cut webs of wrapping material of a predetermined length from said continuous web.

5. In a machine for wrapping articles, a conveyor corriprising a pair of spaced wheels for feeding a Web of wraping material across a path for an article to be wrapped, means for moving said article in said path against said Web of wrapping material to wrap the same around said article between said wheels, a first stationary suction device facing said conveyor and being located at one side of said path, and a second stationary suction device facing said conveyor and being located at the opposite sideof said path when viewed in the direction of movement of said conveyor, said first and second suction devices having each a concave surface coaxial with said wheels, said first and second suction devices being adapted to remove said web of wrapping material by suction from said conveyor wheels and to slidably hold said web of wrapping material across said path of said moving article.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,107,482 2/1938 Kemp 53-389 XR 3,075,325 1/1963 Liedtke 53-228 XR 3,150,475 9/1964 Schooler 53228 XR 3,274,870 9/1966 Scherrnund 83-100 XR 3,277,630 10/1966 Youngman et al. 53228 XR TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, Primary Examiner.

GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, WILLIAM W. DYER, 1a.,

Examiners.

ROBERT L. FARRIS, Assistant Examiner. 

